Italy's Maxxi Museum Taken over by Ministry as Debts Balloon

The Maxxi museum of contemporary art in Rome was placed under the special administration of Italy's culture ministry on Thursday, amid fears ballooning debts and funding cuts could force it to close.

A ministry press release said architect Antonia Pasqua Recchia has been appointed to take over the reins of the museum, which was designed by the Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and opened its doors only two years ago.

Maxxi has blamed funding cuts of 43 percent last year compared to 2010. Without intervention, ministry authorities warned that the museum’s losses could reach 11 million euros ($14 million) in the next three years.

In a period of intense austerity in crisis-hit Italy, Recchia will be tasked with finding sponsors from the private sector to save the museum from closure.

"I will do everything possible to maintain Maxxi's schedule and its standing on the international stage," she was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency.

The museum, which cost the Italian government 150 million euros to build, has been hailed a success by many but has struggled to stay afloat after cuts have seen its budget reduced to just two million euros a year.

"It is difficult to understand why the museum has not been helped earlier and why it has had to go through this traumatic event," said Umberto Croppi, cultural representative for the centrist Future and Freedom party.

"This will have serious repercussions on its international image," he said.

His counterpart for the left-wing Italy of Values party, Giulia Rodano, also denounced "the state of abandon in which public culture finds itself in Italy."

Over the last two years, the government has fought to reign in deficit and has severely cut the culture budget, reducing it by 76 percent.

"With two million euros a year, the Maxxi is the museum with the least amount of funding in the world," said Emilia De Biasi from the center-left Democratic Party.